problem is eradicating all the internal parasites. We treat them, test
them, re-treat them, and test them again."
Feeding these creatures calls for a sort of gourmet kitchen: For some
reptiles, whole rats and mice; for others, whole live fish; and for the
vegetarians, chopped fruits and vegetables with vitamin and mineral
supplements.
Attention is paid to psychological comfort, which varies among spe
cies. "Chameleons don't like one another-even males and females,"
said Pfaff. "So we keep them separate to reduce the stress."
Among the residents here are
rattlesnakes from Aruba, an
island off the coast of Venezu
ela. "They're a threatened spe
cies," Pfaff told me. "Aruba is
only five miles wide and 20
miles long, and 65,000 people
live there. There's not much
room for these guys. But if we
can establish a healthy captive
population and the Arubans
can create a nature preserve,
this species can be saved."
HE CINCINNATI ZOO,
using hormones to
stimulate breeding,
helped build up a
population of near
extinct Puerto Rican crested
toads. Loss of breeding habitat
had devastated the species.
"We introduced 575 toads back
onto the island as part of a coop
erative venture," said amphib
ian and reptile specialist Johnny
Arnett.
"The number is not
insignificant."
Threatened species from the
United States reside at Cincin
nati too, including some Appa
lachian salamanders.
"Those
mountains hold more species
of salamanders than does any
country in the world, and
many are unique," Arnett said.
"Now because of clear-cutting
in the mountain forests, it is estimated that 14 million salamanders die
Delight beamsfrom
each year in North Carolina alone.
Michael Shawn Landry,
"Trees help filter the runoff of water and hold the soil. When the
hospitalized inNew
trees are cut, all the runoff goes directly into streams and into the sub
terranean water in the caves where many salamanders live. The
Orleans with cerebralpalsy,
muddy, dirty water kills the salamanders' offspring,
as he views an alligator
"We're not playing God," Arnett insisted. "We're simply trying to
broughtin by an Audubon
save some of these things while we can. Once they are gone, they are
Zoo outreachprogram.
lost forever."
NationalGeographic, July 1993